“Okay. Are you ready?” Emily draped her arms around Gavin’s neck, breathing in his cologne. Kissing his chin, she felt excitement rushing through her veins. “This is a… few gifts wrapped into one. I just want to make sure you’re prepared. I don’t need your old ass having a heart attack on me.”

Gavin shook his head, his dimpled smile as contagious as ever. “You’re turning into a certified—”

“Wiseass like you.” Emily ran her hands across his chest and pushed up on her tiptoes. Lips grazing Gavin’s ear, she closed her eyes and huskily dropped her voice. “I have a couple hot, delicious, naughty things to teach you, Mr. Blake.” She slowly slid the blindfold from his eyes. “Class starts in five.” She nipped his ear and backed away. Watching him blink open his eyes, his dimple deepening with his growing smile, Emily clapped as Gavin’s mouth dropped open.

“You didn’t,” he said, chuckling.

“Oh yes I did.” Emily wasted no time making her way over to the passenger side. Before opening the door, she reached into a utility closet and snatched the keys to the new ride. She chucked them over the roof and giggled when Gavin caught them. “Get in. We’re taking this bad boy for a spin. Oh, and check out your customized plates. They fit you to a T.”

Brow drawn up in curiosity, Gavin padded to the front of the vehicle, his eyes landing on the plate his certified wiseass wife had made for him. With a Baltimore Orioles emblem winking at him, Gavin scanned the letters BRDLVR. Belting out a laugh, Gavin tossed the keys in the air and caught them before he hopped into the driver’s seat.

“Am I good or what?” Emily questioned, a proud smile toying at her mouth. “I mean, you know you had it coming, right?”

Gavin shook his head and slid the keys into the ignition. “Yes. I had it coming.” Engine started, he leaned over the console and reached for Emily’s seatbelt. He clicked it in place and brought his lips to her ear. “So when does this class begin? I’m an eager student, more than willing to learn new tricks from the teacher.”

Goose bumps popped over Emily’s flesh as she stared into Gavin’s eyes. “I’m glad you’re an eager student,” she breathed, her body caught in his easy vortex of seduction. Damn. She swore he’d be able to pull this shit on her when they were well into their golden years. Wrinkled, barely able to walk, and sucking on an inhaler, she was convinced he’d never need Viagra. Ever. “But I’m not done giving you your gifts.”

A smirk formed at the corner of his lips. “I know. I’m trying to coax the others out of you right now.” Emily’s blood coursed violently through her veins as Gavin’s hand crept behind her head, his fingers melting through her hair. He teased his lips to hers, his voice a low whisper. “Am I doing a good job?” He didn’t let her answer. He probed her mouth with his tongue, seeking the sweet taste he could never get enough of, the sweet taste that would forever belong to him.

Emily’s limbs went pliant, her pulse racing as she gasped into their kiss. Lips locked in wanton indulgence, she breathed in everything that made Gavin. His touch, taste, and the spark of life that continued to light her world on fire time and time again. His presence soothed her. His arms protected her. His soul loved her. He was a cleansing, a purification, and a fresh start at a life she never believed she’d hold. He’d always know how to carefully stalk the fringes of her heart, how to steal her breath, and how to make her worries seep into the nothingness where they belonged. In a blink, he was there. In a flash, she’d almost lost him. But here, and now, he was hers. Leaving behind what once was, and no longer holding visual remnants of chaotic past that’d almost broken them, Emily slowly drew her lips away from his, her need to fill their present with continued happiness growing by the second.

“I love you, Gavin,” she whispered, her mind burning every precious second, minute, and hour they’d spent together into her memory. “You’ve given me everything I could’ve ever imagined and more. I hope I’ve done the same for you.” She paused and cupped his cheek, her pulse racing. “Your other gift’s waiting for you in the back seat.”

Gavin dragged his gaze from Emily’s, which had suddenly become teary, his eyes flicking from Noah’s car seat over to a smaller infant seat. The difference in size was so overwhelming, yet the two fit together like pieces to a puzzle. Side by side, an older brother and a younger sibling. Swallowing, Gavin felt his heart start to hammer in his chest, bursting with a mixture of fear, excitement, love, and joy. Each a delicious, vivid component of what it felt like to be a father. A father to a first, and now a second child.

Gavin’s trembling hand immediately flew to Emily’s stomach, his voice nearly trapped in his throat. “You’re pregnant?” The words rushed from his smiling lips.

Emily giggled, tears slipping from her eyes. “No. I usually make it a habit of buying a few spares just in case.” She unclicked her seat belt, climbed over the console, and deposited herself onto Gavin’s lap. He chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and peppered kisses against his lips, nose, and cheeks. “Yes, I’m pregnant, Blake. It’s not funky forest green, but we’re filling this minivan with bucketloads of kids.”

Gavin cradled the back of her head and slanted his mouth over hers as he spoke. “Simply amazing. This girl named Molly—you might know her—but yeah, she stormed into my life and hasn’t stopped rocking my world ever since.”

And in the year following the season that’d changed Emily and Gavin Blake’s lives forever, fate finally played fair. It stopped its wicked games and decided to let up… just a lil’ bit. From beautiful do-overs on a long stretch of highway in Mexico, to many layers of life peeled away, filled with bottle caps and another car seat in the back of a minivan, time had tick-tocked its way to where it belonged.

Fate… such a funny little thing.

Joe, Joseph, Matthew, and Ava. I love you all. Mom’s back. I promise. I missed you more than you’ll ever know. Thank you for dealing with not having me around. Nothing can ever bring back the time we lost, this I know, but I swear from here on out, the little memories we build together will last us when I slip back off into another world.

Wow. Where to begin? That’s the proverbial question. This ride—writing Pulse—was insanely different than that of when I wrote Collide. Both in glorious and wicked ways. Both amazing and scary. Both… very opposite. I published Collide thinking I’d sell a few copies, gain a few readers, and get my work out there to some people who might enjoy the story well enough. Boy, was I wrong. Overnight, I was thrust into a spotlight I could’ve never prepared myself for. No matter how many times I might’ve dreamt for what I’ve experienced, nothing, and I mean nothing, could’ve have readied me for the road I walked. Wait. I take that back. I didn’t walk anything. The road I ungracefully stumbled, tripped, skidded down, and fell face first onto. I learned quite a few things. Most of which were very hard to swallow—razors down my throat hard to swallow—but nonetheless, I’ve been more than blessed.

The red, velvet curtain is sliding open right about now. Please take a bow when I call your name, and most of all, thank you for not casting judgment, changing on me, or ridiculing my every move while you tripped with me down this road.

Cary Bruce, Brooke Hunter, Angie McKeon, Lisa Maurer, Stephanie Johnson, and Teri Bland. Almost the original BCBW’s with Angie being a great addition. Thank you for always keeping it real. The brutal honesty kept me where I needed to be while writing. I don’t need to say much to you ladies, as we speak regularly for the most part, and you know how much I severely adore you all. So, I’m giving you each a few words you’ll understand. Cary: You got your monkey. Happy? Brooke: Readers will now know it was YOUR idea to kill Gavin. I may have written the devastating words, but you thought it up. Pure. Genius. Lisa: The world is my people. I will never forget that ride! Angie: My evil teaser queen! Stephanie: Diaper. Ha! Great catch and yuck at the same time! Teri: Asystole and Craniotomies!!!!! I could thank you each to the moon and back, and it’d never be enough.